US may send 5,000 troops to fight Taliban

Review of tactics to bring Afghan insurgents to table

NEW YORK // Senior US military and White House figures are recommending more troops be sent to Afghanistan to support the embattled government and force the Taliban into talks.

They believe up to 5,000 more troops – with a matching commitment from Nato countries – are needed to bring the insurgents to the table.

They also want to give commanders more authority to launch air strikes or operations.

The review comes after the Taliban have made significant advances.

By the end of last year they controlled more than 8.4 million Afghans – about a third of the population and a rise of 5 million from 2015 – according to a UN report

. The proposals are expected to be delivered to Donald Trump for approval this week. The strategy also recommends that troop numbers and aid be conditional on the Afghan government doing more to tackle corruption and improve the effectiveness of its own troops. Last week Gen Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, told senators the review included steps to break the military deadlock.

“Additional troops are being considered and changes to the rules of engagement,” Gen Thomas said in a hearing of the armed services committee. Such moves were made in the Middle East and Somalia to empower commanders to make more decisions without seeking Washington’s approval.

It is more than 15 years since US-led forces invaded Afghanistan to oust a Taliban government that harboured Osama bin Laden as he plotted the 9/11 attacks. Today the country seems no closer to peace.

The issue barely registered in the presidential election campaigns, which focused more on the Middle East and ISIL.

Kabul controls about 60 per cent of the country, down from more than 70 per cent at the start of last year. And 807 Afghan troops have been killed in the first two months of this year. American taxpayers have been asked to spend more than US$ 117 billion, or about Dh430bn, on reconstruction.

The plans mark a major reversal of Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce US troops and avoid becoming bogged down in Afghanistan’s conflict.

Nato ended its combat mission in 2014, handing responsibility for security to local security forces, who have been struggling to resist Taliban advances ever since.

The US has about 8,400 troops in the country to train and assist the Afghan army and police, along with 5,000 supplied by Nato members.

Analysts say the moves risk drawing the US, already suffering from war fatigue, further into a conflict without end.

“I believe that it is not only a danger, it is a virtual certainty,” said Barnett Rubin, who served as senior adviser to the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under Barack Obama.

A strategy to force the Taliban to the negotiating table, he said, was doomed when the insurgents knew they could outlast foreign troops.

The only answer was to pursue regional diplomacy to try to broker a political settlement.

“Pakistan, Russia, Iran don’t want us there so they aren’t going to let us stabilise Afghanistan with our troops without consulting them,” Mr Rubin said. “Then it comes down to who can out- escalate who and of course we lose that. “No matter how much we say we’re committed to Afghanistan, we are never going to convince the Taliban we’re going to be in Afghanistan longer than they will.”

He said the plan also contradicted Mr Trump’s message of “America first” and might face opposition inside the White House.

Much of America’s recent focus in the country has been directed at a small branch of ISIL. In March, the US dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on a network of caves used by the group.

But analysts believe that the Taliban remains a far greater threat.

Last month, the group carried out an attack on an Afghan army base in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing more than 150 recruits.

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary general, said last month the challenging security situation meant that the alliance was weighing a plan to increase the number of personnel in its Resolute Support mission beyond the current level of 13,000.

Mr Stoltenberg said a decision would be made by June. Sean Spicer, Mr Trump’s spokesman, said on Monday that he could not comment on whether the president had made a decision.

“I think he wants to make sure that we do what we can to win,” Mr Spicer said.

“And that’s why he charged the generals and other military advisers and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there.”